Ove Arup and Crouch Hogg Waterman of Glasgow produced a set of initial design parameters for companies to build.

The joint-venture chosen to build the bridge put in a quote for £9.5 million, and won the contract in early 1988.

There were proposals that the bridge should be constructed so as to allow the Far North railway line to benefit from the shorter route as well, with the potential for up to 45 minutes to be saved on the journey between Inverness and Thurso/Wick.

The launch nose section[4][5] had a light steel composition to reduce the cantilever moment as it was inched over an open span.

It replaced, via a roundabout with the A836 to the south and a road junction with the A949 to the north, the 26-mile (42 km) round trip over Bonar Bridge.